This invention relates to a paperband composed of a tri-folded sheet of paperboard, and more particularly to paperbands which may include longitudinal indentations and transverse undulations to create a corrugated structure to control stiffness and flexibility of the band as desired, and further wherein the paperband may be provided in a rolled configuration.
It is a common practice in the papermaking and packaging industries to employ a paperband or strap that is loaded into a channel of a track assembly and then removed rapidly out of the channel, often employed to cut and spool a web of paper onto an empty spool or used to wrap around and secure a load, container or a bundle of material. Because the paperband needs to be stiff enough to be pushed into the channel from one end thereof, the band may twist or otherwise be distorted, crimped or separated during removal from the paperband track assembly. This becomes a very important consideration in those applications where the width of the channel opening is made less than the width of the band or tape and the lower tape-carrying guide way of the channel in order to cover and carry the tape. An improved paperband is disclosed herein that greatly reduces the distortion and crimping common to prior art paperbands, reduces the wear on the guide way channel and its cover, and also reduces the separation of layers in some bands made from multiple layers.
Examples of the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,526, which discloses various multi-ply folded strips held together by adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 3,126,312 discloses a plurality of elongate members aligned in a plane and held together by adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 4,414,258 discloses a woven ribbon made of flat strips and weft filaments, which are held in place by adhesive. U.S. Pat. No. 2,499,463 discloses a multi-ply paper strap provided with transverse creases.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0131825 A1 (Jul. 8, 2004) discloses a strap constructed of a double layer of elongated paper elements secured with adhesive on at least a portion of the strap.
None of the above-described paper devices is satisfactory for use in a paperband track assembly beneath wide paper machines for the reason that they do not have the required stiffness for such use. It is an object of this invention to provide a paperband capable of being disposed in a rolled configuration, the paperband being formed of a relatively stiff paperboard material, the term paperboard having a known meaning in the art, wherein the paperband is configured in a longitudinal tri-fold structure with the inwardly folded portions of the paperband being of a width less than the overall width of the folded paperband, such that the interior portion of the paperband consists of three overlapping layers while the edge portions consist of two overlapping layers.